Setting investment goals and timescales

If you don’t know where you want to go, you’ll find it tricky getting there! Don’t worry if your investment goals are a little vague — it’s good to have some flexibility.

Reasons why people invest

Here are a few examples of why people invest in the stock market:

Build wealth for financial freedom

Pay for a child’s university fees

Provide an income in retirement (pension)

Speculate on the markets

Setting your timescales

Identify whether your investment goals are short-term, medium-term or long-term. Your life stage is an important consideration here, and your investment strategy will need to take this into account.

How much will you need?

Try to put a figure on how much money you will need to achieve an investment goal. This will help form your investment strategy, for example, if you want to achieve a high return in a relatively short space of time, you might need to opt for investments which could give you higher returns, albeit with more risk to your capital.

Please remember

This website can help you make informed investment decisions, not give personalised advice. If in doubt, please seek independent financial advice. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance and since investments can fluctuate in value, you may get back less than you pay in. Tax allowances and the benefits of tax-efficient accounts could change in the future.